Improvement in metallic fastenings for leather



E. LJWIRES.

METALLIC-FASTENING FOR LEATHER, 29c. No.1'72,361. Patented Jan.18,1876*N-FETERS, PHOTOLITNOGRAPHER, WASmNGToN. D O

UNITED STATES PATENT EEIGE.

HALF HIS RIGHT TO JOSEPH M.

ESTABROOK, OF SAME PLACE.

J MPROVEIVIENT IN METALLIC FASTENINGS F OR LEATHER, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 72,361, dated January18, 1876; application filed September 9, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPHRAIM L. WIRES, of Milford, in the county ofWorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an improved MetallicFastening for Boots, Shoes, Hose, &c., of which the followingis aspecification:

My invention consists in a headless metal fastening or nail, made fromblanks which are wedgeshaped, or substantially so, and which are wedgedor griped between dies, which make the butt of the wedge cylindrical,but still leave it substantially a wedge, the point of the blank or nailbeing so fine and thin, and the angle formed by the inclined sides beingsuch, that the point will readily clinch without danger of crippling orbending that portion of the nail which is in the leather, and in orderthat the same length of nail may clinch more or less withincomparatively wide limits.

In order to make the nail shown in Figs. 1 and 2, theordinary nail'plateis cut by the usual mechanism into blanks substantially wedgeshaped, asis shown in Fig. 3, and each blank is conveyed as it is cut, in theusual manner, to a pair of dies, which are provided with suitableprojections and depressions to corrugate the blank,'and which are soshaped that the butt of the wedge will be made cylindrical. Thiscompletes the nail.

In cutting a fine thin point, as shown in Fig. 2, the metal yields tothe shears and the point is imperfect on one side, as seen at Fig. 1.This is not a serious objection, but it is sometimes better to make theextreme point of the nail more perf ct. This can be accomplished byforming the blanks in, the shape of a very slightly truncated wedge, asshown in Fig. 6; but when this is done it is essential that more stockshall be used in the rest of the wedge, as is shown in Fig. ,6.

If the wedgeshaped blank be too much truncated, the nail will not clinchproperly the point, or that part of the nail intended to go through theleather, must be much weaker than the rest of the nail, and this canonly be effected by cutting the blank to a featheredge, as in Fig. 2, orelse by cutting the blank as fine as is practically possible withoutmaking the point imperfect, as in Fig. 5, and in this case care must betaken to make the body of the nail much stiffer than thisslightly-truncated point. This is exemplified in Figs. 7 and 8, whereone common form of shoe-nail is shown, and the dotted lines representedge views of my nails.

Shoe -nails are usually manufactured in lengths which vary byone-sixteenth of an inch, and two and sometimes three lengths arerequisite for the best result in one pair of boots and shoes; but mynails, if five-eighths of an inch in length, will answer perfectly whereany other five-eighths nail can be used, and also where any otherfour-and-one-half eighths, four eighths, threeand one half eighths nailcan be used or my four-eighths and six-eighths nails will take the placeof any other nails, t'roin two-andone-halt' eighths up to six eighths,both inclusive. For machine work, this is a matter of very greatimportance.

The butt of the wedge, after it is made cylindrical, should be of adiameter equal to the diameter of the head of the common headedshoe-nails, such as is shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 10, and consequently thepoint of the nail, as it is driven through the leather and against themetal surface, is perfectly controlled by the rest of the nail, andclinched back without danger of crippling or bending the rest of thenail, as in Fig. 10, and so of every other point up to nearly two-thirdsthe length of the nail. As the nail is thin and fine at the point, andits stiffness increases from the point much more rapidly than in thenail shown in Figs. 7 and 8, and yet not so rapidly as to limit theclinch to a short distance from the point, as in other clinchingshoenails, (for example, see Patent No. 85,374, to J. M. Estabrook,)and, hence, my nails may be clinched back full half their length withoutdanger of crippling.

If the butt of the wedge were not made cylindrical, or substantially so,it would beimpossible to so drive the nails that they would presentanything like a uniform appearance in the sole of the shoe; the sharpcorners would also be objectionable.

What I claim as my invention is A headless nail having a fine thinpoint, and a heavy cylindrical butt, tapering on two sides from butt topoint, and parallel on its other two sides, all as set forth.

. EPHRAIM L. WIRES. Witnesses:

J. E. MAYNADIER, J. E. KNOX.

